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    Tactic Electoral Theater Guerella

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    exwizard
    Electoral guerrilla theatre involves running for public office as a prank to challenge policies, candidates, or the electoral system. It uses the media attention around elections to bring more attention to causes than otherwise possible. The goal is typically not to win, but to use humor and absurdity to highlight issues and introduce radical ideas. Candidates craft compelling fictional personas and participate in political events to satirize them. They combine serious messages with ridiculous platforms and imagery to get people's attention and then introduce simple radical ideas for change. When done right, it engages in "serious play" to disrupt the status quo.

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    Tactic Electoral Theater Guerella

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    exwizard
    15 views2 pages
    Electoral guerrilla theatre involves running for public office as a prank to challenge policies, candidates, or the electoral system. It uses the media attention around elections to bring more attention to causes than otherwise possible. The goal is typically not to win, but to use humor and absurdity to highlight issues and introduce radical ideas. Candidates craft compelling fictional personas and participate in political events to satirize them. They combine serious messages with ridiculous platforms and imagery to get people's attention and then introduce simple radical ideas for change. When done right, it engages in "serious play" to disrupt the status quo.

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    Electoral guerrilla theatre involves running for public office as a prank to challenge policies, candidates, or the electoral system. It uses the media attention around elections to bring more attention to causes than otherwise possible. The goal is typically not to win, but to use humor and absurdity to highlight issues and introduce radical ideas. Candidates craft compelling fictional personas and participate in political events to satirize them. They combine serious messages with ridiculous platforms and imagery to get people's attention and then introduce simple radical ideas for change. When done right, it engages in "serious play" to disrupt the status quo.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    15 views2 pages

    Tactic Electoral Theater Guerella

    Uploaded by

    exwizard
    Electoral guerrilla theatre involves running for public office as a prank to challenge policies, candidates, or the electoral system. It uses the media attention around elections to bring more attention to causes than otherwise possible. The goal is typically not to win, but to use humor and absurdity to highlight issues and introduce radical ideas. Candidates craft compelling fictional personas and participate in political events to satirize them. They combine serious messages with ridiculous platforms and imagery to get people's attention and then introduce simple radical ideas for change. When done right, it engages in "serious play" to disrupt the status quo.

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    TACTIC

    ELECTORAL GUERRILLA THEATRE


    By running for public office as a prank, you can sabotage a particularly ugly policy or candidate, popularize
    a radical idea, or challenge the limits of the electoral system itself.

    CONTRIBUTED BY
    Larry Bogad
    Larry Bogad is a lifelong creative strategist
    (guided and goaded by Harpo, Groucho, and
    Zero), co-founder of the Rebel Clown Army,
    founding director of the Center for Artistic
    Activism (West Coast), and professor of political
    performance at the University of California,
    Davis. He writes, performs, and strategizes with
    the Yes Men, Agit-Pop, and La Pocha Nostra.

    “GET PEOPLE’S ATTENTION WITH HUMOUR AND FOLLOW UP


    WITH A FEW SIMPLE YET RADICAL IDEAS — THE-WORLD-WE-
    WANT-TO-SEE TYPE OF IDEAS.”

    “The joke is mightier than the sword.” POTENTIAL RISKS


    —Bassem Youssef
    If there is a candidate running
    Reverend Billy, an anti-consumerist performance artist, running for that you actually do support,
    mayor of New York City; a drag queen running for the Australian take care to craft your campaign
    senate as the queer doppelgänger of far-right racist politician in such a way that it amplifies
    Pauline Hanson; and Cacareco the Rhinoceros running — and theirs, or at least doesn’t
    actually winning — São Paulo city council elections! These are all interfere with it. Don’t let your
    examples of electoral guerrilla theatre, in which activists creatively satire upstage your ally to the
    disrupt the business-as-usual public office elections to inspire point that it detracts from their
    critique of the electoral system or the choices on offer. campaign.

    The term electoral guerrilla yokes two seemingly incompatible RELATED TOOLS
    approaches. Electoral activists work within the state’s most
    conventional avenues in an attempt to reform the system peacefully. Stories
    Guerrillas, in the military sense, exist on the extreme margins of the
    social system, launching surprise, swift attacks against the state - Billionaires for Bush
    before disappearing again. This contradiction is what makes - Panty power
    electoral guerrilla theatre a wild card in the repertoire of resistance.
    Tactics
    It is an unstable and problematic combination that can take all
    players involved by surprise. - Creative disruption
    - Cultural disobedience
    Winning is rarely the goal. However, by piggybacking on the
    - Culture jamming
    massive media attention that elections gather (see: TACTIC: Media-
    - Hoax
    jacking), a clever guerrilla campaign can attract much more public
    - Identity correction
    attention than might otherwise be possible. Craft a compelling and
    - Legislative theatre
    funny character that fits your critique, say, a pro-corruption pharaoh
    who wants to get in on the easy plunder that national - Media-jacking
    establishments in Cairo have been witnessing, for example. Craft
    your persona, and start crashing mainstream political events — or Principles
    make a scene when you are prevented from crashing (see: TACTIC:
    - Anyone can act
    Creative disruption). Even better, earn more scandalous attention
    - Balance art and message
    by bringing your absurdity through the front door of the power
    - Brand or be branded
    structure by getting a slot in an “equal time” debate, or getting on
    - Bring the issue home
    the ballot with your silly character name, or getting interviewed by
    - Develop an inside-outside
    the straight media in character.
    strategy
    When trying this approach, there are a couple of things to keep in - Do the media’s work for them
    mind. First, do what they do but with a critical difference (see: - Know your cultural terrain
    THEORY: Alienation effect). If you’re doing this right, by absurdly - Play to the audience that isn’t
    aping the clichés of the “proper” candidates you can call attention there
    to the fact that they are just as socially constructed and fake as your - Put your target in a decision
    pharaoh/witch/rhino/etc. Cut ribbons. Kiss babies. Bring out the dilemma
    empty symbolism of these rituals, and insert your own radical - Reframe the issue
    critique. - Stay on message
    - Turn the tables
    Second, combine serious and playful elements in your election - Use humour to undermine
    platform. You should actually have a serious point you’re making, authority
    and in the middle of all the absurdity and pranks, while you’ve got - Use others' prejudices against
    people’s attention, make that point. Jello Biafra did a great job them
    illustrating this principle during his run for mayor of San Francisco in - Use the law, don’t be afraid of
    1979. Some of his “if I am elected” platform made folks laugh it
    bitterly; some planks — like suggesting that beat cops be elected - Use your radical fringe to shift
    by the neighborhoods they patrol — made folks think “hmmm . . . the Overton window
    actually that’s not a bad idea.” Get people’s attention with humour
    and follow up with a few simple yet radical ideas — The-World-We- Theories
    Want-to-See type of ideas (see: THEORY: Prefigurative politics). This
    - Alienation effect
    way you’re not just talking about what you’re against, but what
    - Ethical spectacle
    you’re for.
    - Floating signifier
    When done right, electoral guerrilla theatre is serious play at its - Prefigurative politics
    best. - The propaganda model

    Originally published in Beautiful Trouble. Methodologies

    - Battle of the story

    LEARN MORE TAGS

    The Colbert Rapport Campaign strategy, Elections,


    Larry Bogad, The Nation, 2007 Humour, Media
    https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/colbert-rapport/

    Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements


    Larry Bogad, 2016
    https://books.google.com/books?id=2ovDCwAAQBAJ&dq

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